The overall goal of this research is to find out how the bacterial virus lambda brings about the precisely scheduled lysis of the host: bacterium. Necessary sub-goals include identifying the genes and gene-products directly involved in lysis and determining the synthesis, localization, and apparent function of those gene-products. More long-range sub-goals include isolating the lysis functions from the complex regulatory backround of the infective cycle and reconstituting the lysis-triggering phenomenon in vitro.